hospital officials
LA County ER may close
Centinela Freeman HealthSystem in Los Angeles County may close the emergency department at its Memorial location in Inglewood, which treated 38,000 emergency cases last year. Centinela Freeman plans to divert patients to Centinela, which is owned by the same health system and is located only one and a half miles away. But critics are concerned that the closure will put too much pressure on Centinela and endanger those in need of emergency care. In the past several years, nine emergency …
... Read more...In Philly, health system attracts nurses
A Philadelphia program to recruit and retain nurses has met with success. Main Line Health System, which includes three hospitals, has hire 225 new nurses and 100 experienced nurses in the last five... Read more...
NY hospital cardiac program halted
New York State Department of Health has sent a cease-and-desist order to the pediatric cardiac unit of Stony Brook University Hospital. The order is the result of three patient deaths since May: A "one-year-old who died from a medication overdose, a seven-year-old who died after routine adenoid surgery and a premature 23-week baby with a heart defect who died after not receiving an operation," according to Modern Healthcare. Regulators say that Stony Brook lacks a full-time …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Industry execs react to CMS Medicare changes; Hospital, Aetna in contract dispute; and much more...
> Healthcare industry professionals have had mixed reactions to CMS's Medicare announcements on Tuesday. Report
> IBM is donating 150,000 lines of open-source code to small- and medium-sized practices. The company hopes that it will help these practices afford clinical applications that can operate with larger health information networks. …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Dallas County wants repayment from other counties; UMDNJ announces layoffs; and much more...
> Dallas County will be sending bills to its neighboring counties--and foreign countries--for the cost of treating their indigent residents. Last year the county spent $18.3 million treating patients from other areas, and local lawmakers say the cost is too much of a burden for Dallas County taxpayers. The county will also be sending bills to foreign countries. Article
> The beleaguered University of …
... Read more...Calif. anesthesia group loses contract
Enloe Medical Center of Chico, CA has awarded a bitterly contested contract to Medcorp, a newly formed anesthesiology group set up to compete for the deal. The contract was previously held by Anesthesia Associates of Chico (AAC), a rival group that had provided services to Enloe for a number of years. The dispute is one of dozens currently taking place at medical centers across the U.S., as facilities struggle to cope with the continuing nationwide anesthesiologist shortfall. Driven by …
... Read more...Report calls for 3% tax on TX hospitals
A three percent tax on Texas hospitals would generate $3 billion a year that could help improve access to healthcare for Texans without health insurance, according to a new report out this week from the James Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University. The state has one of the highest rates of uninsured citizens, with about 25 percent lacking coverage. The report, titled "Code Red: The Critical Condition of the Health of Texas," concludes that the state could benefit from more …
... Read more...ALSO NOTED: Von Eschenbach clarifies cancer goals; Guidant faces new suits; and much more...
> Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach, the Bush administration's pick to permanently head the FDA, clarified controversial statements on cancer which opponents have criticized. Article
> Some analysts think Guidant may face more lawsuits after an internal review criticized the company's handling of safety problems with its defibrillators last year. Two new lawsuits were filed yesterday. …
... Read more...Industry reacts to Medicare budget proposal
The healthcare industry reacted unhappily to the Bush administration budget proposal that would slash funding for hospitals and other healthcare providers by about $36 billion over the next five years. New York hospital officials said the changes come at a particularly difficult time when the industry is struggling to deal with an evolving marketplace and continuing financial challenges. Industry officials produced data which they said shows the cuts would cost area hospitals and …
... Read more...Tenet says Memorial Hospital report wrong
A spokesman for Tenet Healthcare said a report carried by the Associated Press and on the front page of this morning's New York Times concerning 45 bodies found on the flooded grounds of Memorial Hospital in New Orleans is inaccurate. The AP quoted hospital officials as saying the bodies were those of patients who may have drowned after staff evacuated the hospital. "No living patient was left behind," Tenet spokesman Larry Anderson said. "We evacuated every living …
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